Mark of the Heart
by RandomPoetryChick
Summary: girl gives up herself for her friends life and is granted a gift by the goddess. at the house of night she meets new friends and tries to keep some old ones. my first solo fan fiction. hope you like it! please review!
1. Chapter 1: Marked

Chapter One: Marked

It had been a regular day at my high school as I walked down the hall with my best friend Sam, talking about our English assignment. The final bell had just rang and we were getting ready to go to Sam's house for a sleepover when we were stopped. The man standing in front of us was obviously not human, and the crescent mark and additional tattooing proved that. He was a vampyre, and a tracker at that. Sam stared at him in horror as I just looked shocked. When he pointed at Sam my expression also changed to shock. The hall had about six other people in it and they were all staring wide eyed at her. I could tell she wanted to bolt but she was frozen there staring at him.

"Samantha Howl!" He started.

"No!" I cried out, stepping in front of her as she coward behind me. Sam didn't deserve this and I knew she didn't want the life that came with being marked. Sam was a good person and her life was on a good path. Becoming a vampyre would ruin everything she had worked for. I on the other hand had less to lose. Unlike Sam I had divorced parents, with one sibling and was going through school as a normal student while Sam was in honors classes and getting good grades. She couldn't become a vampyre and lose everything.

"No!" I repeated. "Take me instead!" The tracker regarded me as everyone stared at me in shock.

"You cannot change who the night chooses." He said coldly.

"Please! Take me instead. Sam has worked too hard! Please let her continue with the life she has worked for!"

"I'm sorry, child. I cannot change it either." He said.

_But I can, _came a voice in my head. Suddenly I got dizzy and my vision started going black. I was pulled into darkness and I felt cold. Suddenly I felt light, warmth coming towards me. There was a woman standing in front of me, smiling and I gasped at the sight of her. Later when I tried to remember what she looked like I couldn't find the words. All I remembered was that she was beautiful.

"Who are you?" I asked in awe. Her smile widened and she came a bit closer.

"I am Nyx, the Goddess of the Night and of the vampyres." She said in a magical voice. My eyes widened as I took this in and I realized what that meant.

"Please don't take my friend Sam!" I begged her. "She's worked too hard for the life she has now and the one I know she will have! Please spare her!" Nyx smiled sadly.

"I cannot take away a mark once it has been given. Someone must be marked."

"Then take me instead! Please!"

"You care for her deeply, don't you my child?"

"Yes. She is my best friend. One of the only people who understands me. She's like my sister. I would give anything for her." Nyx thought for a moment before smiling.

"Fair enough, child. You have a strong caring heart. Use it well." She smiled and kissed my forehead. As soon as her lips touched my forehead I felt a jolt of pain and shut my eyes tightly though it. When it finally quit hurting I opened my eyes back to school, Sam holding me up and the tracker regarding me.

"Very well. Marie Ann Smith. Night has chosen thee; thy death will be thy birth. Night calls to thee; hearken to Her sweet voice. Your destiny awaits you at the House of Night!" And with that he was gone. I looked up at Sam who was staring at me with her huge green eyes. I thought that maybe she would let go of me and run but she helped me stand up. I smiled sheepishly at her before noticing amazement in her eyes.

"Marie. Oh my god. You should see your mark. It's incredible. I've never seen one like it before." She said in awe. "I can't believe you would do something like this for me. You are the greatest friend in the world! We are going to have to keep in touch when you leave!"

She smiled and hugged me. I stood there in shock for a minute before smiling and hugging her back. She then let go of me and helped me pick up my things.

"This is so amazing Marie. I mean you were just telling me the other day how you wish your life was different. This is like your chance! Thank you so much! I can't believe you did that! No one has ever done anything like that before! I bet you are the first!"

I smiled as we walked out of the school before noticing other people staring at me. They stared at my forehead and I saw a mixture of emotions. I saw fear, anger and disgusted but I also saw a small amount of amazement and awe. I could almost feel all the emotions rolling off of everyone and they hit me hard. I doubled over as all the emotions attacked me. Sam stopped and put her hand on my shoulder.

"Marie? Are you ok? What's wrong?" she asked, her panic not helping much. It took me several minutes and after several people left I managed to regain control of myself.

"I'm fine." I said, having no idea what had just happened. I stayed quiet the rest of the way as Sam talked. Finally we were out of the school and we started heading down the road. I stopped when we reached the cross roads.

"Well come on." Sam said, pointing towards her house. I bit my lip and sighed.

"I think I should go home and grab some stuff before I go to…" I stopped and bit my lip again. Sam nodded in understanding.

"You want me to go with you? My mom could give you a ride up there."

I thought about it for a minute. I was so happy that Sam hadn't run away from me but I could see her looking at me with awe and could almost feel it too. It was a little uncomfortable and strange but at the same time I didn't mind having a friend with me. At least she hadn't reacted in disgust and fear as so many others did.

"Ok. That sounds good." We headed towards my house and Sam went off on her talking spree again. She hadn't talked this much in awhile but it was nice to have something familiar in all this weirdness. We walked to my house, her excitement and awe bubbling in me. I started thinking how weird it was that it seemed that I could literally feel her emotions. After a minute, when she looked at me and awe and a small flash of fear went through me I suddenly realized I was. It confused me and amazed me at the same time. I thought back to when I had walked through the school and felt all those emotions. I realized that I literally had. I thought about this and wondered how it was possible. I was thinking about it so deeply that I almost didn't realize it when we got to my house.

"Marie?" Sam said, pulling me back to this world. I looked up and saw my house, sighing.

"Ok. Let's get this over with." I said before walking up the steps into our small two story three bedroom house. I walked inside, trying to be quiet and Sam followed close behind. I could feel my mother's drunken numbness from the living room but didn't feel anything from my brother. I guess he wasn't home. We tried to pass the living room without my mother noticing but we had no such luck. She stood up just as we were almost out. We both froze and looked at her. She stared right back at me, eyes widening in surprise before she recognized what was on my forehead. I felt her emotions go from surprise to disbelief to anger.

"You. Get the hell out of my house! You… you monster!" she shouted to me. I bit back tears. I had partially expected this but I had had one small hope that my mother would behave like a mother and help me through this. I felt her anger and suddenly it sparked my own. Our combined anger consumed me.

"I'm not the one who's the monster! At least I don't sit around all day and drink myself to sleep! At least I don't abuse my son and neglect my daughter unless she does something wrong! You want me out? Fine! I don't need this anymore!" I ran up the stairs and grabbed some stuff quickly throwing it all into my suitcase. I grabbed my favorite heart shaped pillow and stormed down the stairs passing my still stunned mother, grabbing Sam hand.

"Come on. Let's leave this hell hole." I said as I turned my back on my old life and led Sam out the door. When we got to the door it opened and my twin brother walked in. His eyes widened as he saw my mark and his jaw practically dropped to the ground. I felt his shock but was still too consumed by the anger to really care. I grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the house as well. When we were out of the house and a few blocks away Andrew finally snapped out of his shock.

"You're a vampyre?" he said in amazement. "When the hell did this happen? And I've never seen a mark like that before! How did you get the heart?" The last question finally got to me and I stopped in my tracks, letting go of them and turning to face him in confusion.

"Heart? What do you mean?" I asked.

"You mean you still haven't seen your reflection yet?" Sam asked, her eyes going wide. I shook my head and she sighed, pulling a small compact mirror from her bag. She handed it to me and I opened it to get my first look at my mark. It was amazing, a crescent moon outline in a beautiful blue as all marks are. But the part that was really amazing was the small but obvious heart dangling from the top tip of the crescent. The blue shined brightly against my pale skin and made my blues eyes glow slightly. I stared at it in the same awe and amazement I felt coming from the other two staring at me at the moment. I gave the compact back to Sam and we started walking towards Sam's house.

"So now what?" Andrew asked. "Are you going to leave? Go to the House of Night and live there?" He hid the hurt and abandonment but I felt it slowly seeping out of him. I knew I couldn't leave him alone with my abusive mother.

"I have to go, Andrew. I have no choice." I felt the pain come off him stronger and almost buckled over from it as I felt my own pain. They both stopped and looked at me worriedly before I recovered.

"Look. Maybe I can find a way for you to come with." I told him. He looked at me sadly and sighed.

"You know they don't allow anyone but vampyre there."

"Well maybe we can figure something out. I'm not letting you go back to that woman." I said, some of my own anger coming back. "We have to at least ask."

He sighed but smiled slightly, nodding. Sam linked arms with me and smiled as well as we headed to her house. When we got there I hesitated. With how many people had reacted badly she worried that Sam's mother wouldn't accept her and throw her out. Sam looked at me questioningly before trying to give me a reassuring smile. I smiled weakly back and then sighed before heading in. The minute we got in Sam's little sister and brother came running down the hall to meet us. They practically tackled Sam and me, hugging us excitedly.

"He Joey, Maggie." Sam said as she gave them each a hug. Joey came over to me, reaching his hands up for me to pick him up. I smiled and picked him up, feeding on their happiness and excitement. He smiled back at me before staring at my forehead. He touched it in amazement before he smiled wider.

"Pretty!" The little five year old said, his green eyes sparkling. I smiled and ruffled his blond hair before setting him down. Maggie stared for a minute before also telling me it was pretty and then ran off as her younger brother chased her down the hall.

"Mom!" Sam called out as my stomach clenched.

"I'm in the kitchen dear!" I heard Mrs. Howl call out. Sam looked at me and gave my hand a comforting squeeze, while Andrew nodded, staying close behind looking determined. I could feel the nervousness coming off of them and it just made mine worse. I had to stop for a minute while they looked at me worriedly again.

"I'm fine." I said finally regaining control. "Let's get this over with." Sam nodded and pulled me to the kitchen. We got in there and saw Mrs. Howl cooking dinner already. Her back was too us so Sam walked in and pulled me a little behind her, Andrew also moving, acting like a magnet. I could feel that he was feeling very protective of me at the moment.

"Mom? We need your help." She said, sounding and feeling nervous.

"Sure, honey what do you-Oh my!" she said as she turned around and saw my mark. I felt her shock and became terrified she would reject me. I felt Andrew's hand wrap around my wrist, trying to protect me. Then I felt her awe and amazement and sighed slightly in relief.

"Marie, my dear. That is the most beautiful mark I have ever seen! My goodness."

"Mom. Marie needs to get to the House of Night. Can we take her?" Mrs. Howl smiled at us.

"Of course we can." She said. I sighed in relief.

_Next Chapter: The House of Night_


	2. Chapter 2: House of Night

Chapter 2: The House of Night

I was feeling everyone's nervousness as we all got in the car after Sam's father came home to watch the younger kids. It was not helping my own nervousness at all but I tried to push all their feelings away so I could deal with my own. Mrs. Howl let me sit in the front while my brother sat behind me and Sam sat behind her mom. We headed off towards Redding where the closes house of night was. It was about a two hour drive from our town of Chico Ca but it was either there or the two hour or more drive to Sacramento. I preferred the smaller town of Redding personally.

While we headed there, Sam fell asleep but my brother kept looking out the window, worry and fear radiating off of him a bit. Mrs. Howl kept looking at me radiating worry and awe. After about an hour and a half of this I couldn't take it.

"Can we stop for a minute please?" I asked, desperate to get out of the small space filled with emotions.

"Of course, honey. Are you feeling okay?" Mrs. Howl asked worriedly.

"Yeah. I just really need some air." I mumbled. I wasn't sure if the emotions thing was actually part of being a vampyre or what but I didn't feel like complaining, not sure if they would understand. After a few minutes we pulled into a gas station and I practically fell out of the car in my hurry. I took a deep breath, trying to clear my head of everyone else's emotions.

"Are you sure you are okay, sis?" Andrew questioned worriedly.

"I'll be fine. Just give me a minute to clear my head." I said. He nodded and went into the gas station with Mrs. Howl to get water or whatever. Sam was still asleep and I stood outside, trying to stay calm. I looked over and saw a man staring at me, or more precisely my forehead. I felt the anger rolling off of him and turned away quickly.

"Damn it. This emotion thing is going to drive me crazy." I muttered to myself. Finally Mrs. Howl and my brother came back out and we got into the car and left again. Thirty minutes or so later we got into Redding and about ten minutes later we got to the Redding House of Night. It was just a little bit outside of town in a building that looked a lot like a castle. It was made of gray bricks and looked like it was about two stories high. There were two towers on opposite sides of the building and there was a wall surrounding the whole place. I wasn't sure if the wall was there to keep people out, or keep people in. I really hoped this place wouldn't be like a prison.

Mrs. Howl pulled into the parking lot through an opening in the wall and parked the car. We all looked at the House of Night in amazement, Sam rubbing her eyes a bit from just waking up.

"Wow." She said. I couldn't agree more than her and my emotions followed there's, looking up at the castle in amazement.

"Well let's go." Mrs. Howl said as she opened the door. "Let's not keep Mika waiting."

"Who?" Sam asked as the rest of us got out of the car and followed her.

"Mika. She's the priestess of this House of Night. Or at least she was when my friend Trinity came here."

"You knew someone who was marked?" I asked, Sam and Andrew mimicking my surprised.

"Yes. Several years ago when I was about your age. She was marked and came here. We still keep in touch actually." Mrs. Howl said with a smile. I thought about this for a second before suddenly seeing a woman standing at a door to the castle. She was a vampyre and her mark had beautiful swirls extending from the filled in crescent moon. She had long black hair and looked like she might be Japanese. We aproached her and she was just about the same size as my 5' 7" self but the power and energy that came off of her was amazing. I assumed she was the priestess Mika and it was confirmed when she stepped forward to introduce herself.

"Hello." She said with a smile, extending her arm to me. "I'm Mika. Welcome to the House of Night Marie." I reached for her hand and she grabbed my forarm in an old fashioned greeting.

"Um. H-hello." I studdered.

"And Victoria. How nice to see you again. I'm sure Trinity would love to see you. She is our equistrians study teacher and is in the stables right now if you would like to see her."

"I would love to. Are you going to be okay Marie?"

"I'll be fine." I assured her.

"We will go with her." Andrew said, placing his hand on my shoulder and Sam nodded. Mrs. Howl smiled and headed off towards the stables, which were off to the side across a courtyard in the front.

"Now how about I show you around?" Mika said with a smile. I nodded and she led us into the castle. She gave us a tour, showing us the cafeteria, classrooms and dorms while giving me a run down on my new life.

"I can change my name?" I asked when she mentioned this.

"Yes, if you want to."

"You can change it to Heart, like we used to call you all the time!" Sam said with a smile.

"Heart? I like it." I smiled back.

"Heart it is then. Now I know you have a few questions, especially considering your brother and your strange mark." Mika said as we came to her office. "Why don't you sit down and we can discuss these things?"

"Ok." I sat down before starting to ask my questions. "First off, is there any way at all my brother can stay here? Please?"

"Well humans aren't usually allowed to stay at the House of Night." Mika said, looking apologetic. I felt my brother's pain and almost doubled over as it combined with mine.

"Please? Isn't there any way at all? I can't let him go back to that house! Please?" I practiaclly begged.

"I-it's okay Heart." Andrew said, using my new name and placing his hand on my shoulder. "I-i'll be okay."

"No you won't! Ever since dad left she has been beating the crap out of you! I can't let that happen anymore!" I said as I grabbed his hand and put it in mine. Suddenly he gasped in slight pain and pulled his hand away. He looked at it in shock and amazement before Mika grabbed it and looked at it as well.

"It seems the goddes may want him to stay near you." She said before showing me my brother's palm. Burnt onto it was a heart much like the one on my mark. I looked at it in amazement as well.

"So I can stay?" my brother asked.

"Yes. You may stay. We will have to figure out what to do about your education and where you will be rooming but I cannot deny the goddess. She seems to want you two to stay close." My brother and I nodded.

"Now Heart. There is the matter of your mark."

"Yes. Has anything like this ever happened before? Has anyone else ever had anything else to there mark as a fledgeling?"

"Well there is one girl in Tulsa whose mark was filled in when she arrived at the House of Night there. Her name is Zoey Redbird and it seems that the goddess favors her. She has done many great things. But she is the only one."

"Does this mean the goddess favors me too?"

"It's possible. You could do great things, Heart. Now is there any thing else you wish to ask me?"

"Um. Yes. Is it, um, normal to feel other's emotions?"

"No. Not really. A few vampyres are gifted by the goddess with affinities when they are fledgelings, though. I can speak to animals for example."

"Really?"

"Yes. It seems, Heart, that you are truely gifted." She smiled at me and I blushed a bit, feeling everyone's awe. "Now. Let's take you to your dorm so you can meet your room mate. And I'm sure your mother will be looking for you soon Sam. We won't want to keep her waiting."

Sam blushed a bit as we headed towards the girls dorms. We went into the front room where several girls where watching tv and Mika pointed out the kitchen off to the side. She then led us upstairs to one of the rooms. She knocked on the door and waited for a minute before a girl with bright red hair in pigtails and shorts and a tank top answered the door.

"Hey Mika. Is this my new room mate?" She asked, looking me over and then stoping at my mark, eyes going wide. I felt her shock and amazement and sighed slightly.

"Yes, Opal. This is Heart."

"Hello Heart! I'm Opal! Nice to meet you!" Opal said enthusiastically, offering her hand. She took my arm in the same way Mika had and I smiled shyly back. This girl radiated happiness, which I guess was a lot better than other things. Still, any emotion seemed a little overwhelming to me at the moment.

"Hello." I stated simply, as I grabbed her arm back.

"And who are they?" She asked, looking around me to see Sam and Andrew.

"Um. That's my friend Sam and this is my brother, Andrew."

"Well hello!" She smiled, shaking there hands. I felt Andrew's shyness and Opal's intrest and smiled slightly, realizing that they kind of liked eachother.

"I'll let you get settled then, Heart and Andrew. If you would come with me, I'm sure we can find a room for you to stay in." Mika interjected. Andrew nodded and gave me a hug. As he hugged me I felt something similar to a shock and we seperated.

_That was weird._ I heard from Andrew.

"Yeah that was." I said back.

"Huh? What was what?" He asked, looking at me weirdly.

"Did you just said 'that was weird'?"

"No. I thought it."

"You thought it?"

"Yeah."

"Huh." I said before testing something. _Can you hear me?_

_Yes!_ Andrew thought back with surprise.

"We can hear eachother's thoughts!" I gasped. Opal and Sam looked surprised and Mika looked at us with interest.

"It seems that the goddess truely doesn't want you seperated." She said. "Maybe I should find a room nearby."

"Well he could room with us for the time being. I could move out once a room is available." Opal piped in, wanting to be helpful.

"Alright. I will look for a room for you Opal and you can stay with your sister Andrew."

"Thank you." Andrew said, actually feeling relief.

_I really don't want to be away from her._ He thought. I sighed before turning to Mika.

"Do you have some clothes and stuff that he could have. We kind of left the house in a rush and he didn't get a chance to grab a bag."

"Of course. I will find him so clothes right away." She said with a smile. "And Sam, you should probably return to your mother. I suspect that she is waiting for you."

Sam nodded and turned to me and Andrew. We hugged and she promised to visit often before following Mika out. My brother and I went back into our room and shut the door.

"Isn't Mika awesome?" Opal asked as she sat on one of the two beds, bouncing slightly. "I mean it's obvious she knows so much more than she says, because like all vampyres know so much, but she actually acts like she doesn't and askes you about things. She is such a great mentor. Is she going to be yours? We would have the same mentor than!"

"Yeah. I think she said she would be." I said with a small smile. Opal smiled at me and then showed me where all my stuff could go and everything.

"Mika will probably find me a room tonight so you can have these drawers and stuff, Andrew." She said, showing us her side of the room. The more I felt her emotions the more I knew that she had a crush on Andrew.

_What?_ Andrew thought to me. _Do you really think so?_

I smiled weakly and nodded. His eyes went wider and he pondered this for a moment. After awhile of me settling my stuff in and talking to Opal as she packed her stuff up Mika came back. She brought some clothes for Andrew and told Opal that there was a room ready for her. She gave us each a hug and her and Andrew exchanged a shy smile and then she left.

_I'm tired._ My brother thought.

_Me too. _I thought with a sigh back to him. I got ready for bed while he put his new clothes away and changed. I changed and then came out of the bathroom to find him laying on his bed already. I turned off the light and crawled into my own bed. I was tired and fell asleep quickly.

An hour or two later I woke up when I felt someone climb into the bed with me. I sighed and put my arms around Andrew as he curled up to me.

_Bad dream?_ I asked him mentally. He nodded and I sighed. _Don't worry. She can't hurt you here. You're safe._

He cried for a minute and I comforted him. I hated our mother for putting him through this, causing him so much pain. It hurt me and made me want to cry. After a few minutes I did, unable to take both his pain and my own without doing so.

_Thank you, sis._ He said after a minute. _Thank you for saving me from her._

I nodded and held him close until he fell asleep and soon followed him.

_Next Chapter: __First Day_


	3. Chapter 3: First Day

**AN: Sorry it took me so long to post this chapter! Between writing two other fanfictions plus my own stories plus school, getting hit by a car(I'm okay though!), getting engaged, and life in general it's taking me a while to get everything out. It doesn't seem like many people are reading this anyways so I might just stop writing it or at least delay it until I have more time unless I get more readers and comments. So comment and let me know if you like it!**

Chapter Three: First Day

I woke up the next night and felt Andrew next to me. I rolled over and opened my eyes with a sigh, finding him still asleep. I kissed his forehead and then got up. Even though we were the same age I had always felt like Andrew was my little brother that I needed to protect him. Our home situation wasn't that great and I was glad I was able to get him out of that.

_Thank you Goddess._ I thought before going to get dressed. There was no real dress code here but there was an ensemble that showed which year or whatever we were in. I was a second former I believe. Something like that at least. Just as I finished getting dressed I felt my brother start to wake up, his grogginess making me wish I could go back to sleep. He sat up quickly, once he was fully awake and quickly looked around the room out of habit. I felt his flash of fear and sighed.

"She's not here, remember?" I asked him softly, sitting next to him on the bed. He looked at me as his memory returned and sighed, feeling relieved. He then looked up at me with a smile.

"Thank you so much." He said, love and gratitude pouring off of him. I smiled and grabbed his hand, tracing the heart shaped burn mark that was there.

_You don't have to be afraid anymore, ok? You're protected by me._ I thought, sounding slightly more sure of myself than I was. He chuckled a bit and then tightened his grip on my hand.

_Okay._ He thought back with complete fate in me before standing up and letting go of my hand. He went over and started to get dressed so I went into the bathroom to finish getting ready. When I came out he was sitting on the bed, looking deep in thought.

_What are you thinking about so hard?_ I asked him mentally.

_Do you think I could change my name too? I don't want there to be anything to remind me of the past._

_I understand. I'm sure you can change your name if you want. What were you thinking of?_ He gave me a few names and I suggested a few as well.

_How about Leon?_ I suggested after a minute, sitting down next to him.

_Leon?_

_Yes. It means lion hearted._

_But lion's are brave. I don't think I'm brave enough to deserve a name like that._

_I think you are brave. I believe in you my brother._ I smiled to him, tracing the heart on his hand again. He smiled back.

"Okay. Leon it is then." He stated. Just then there was a knock on the door and I felt excitement and bubbliness coming in waves. I sighed, knowing exactly who it was before I even opened the door.

"Hi Opal." I said with a smile. It was nice to have her bubbly energy, honestly, especially with this being my first day and everything.

"Hi Heart. How are you? Are you ready for your first day?" She asked, smiling big and practically jumping up and down.

"I'm a little nervous but I think I'm ready." I replied grabbing a bag.

"Hi Andrew!" Opal giggled.

"It's Leon now, actually." He said shyly.

"Oh. Well that's a really nice name. It means lion hearted, right?" He nodded, blushing slightly. I smiled wider and then turned back to Opal.

"Um. Where do I get my class schedule and everything?" I asked her.

"Mika has it I'm sure. Let's go down and get it from her." She smiled leading the way down the stairs. My brother followed me, not wanting to leave my side. I wasn't sure if he was scared to leave me because he felt safe with me or if he was afraid of me getting hurt. It almost seemed like both.

_What am I going to do, sis? Will I take classes with the rest of you or what?_ He asked as we left the girls' rooms.

_I don't know. Maybe Mika will do like a home school thing for you._ I thought back to him.

_As long as she doesn't send me to the school in town._

We got to Mika's office and Opal tapped on the door. Mika answered and smiled at us.

"Hello. How are you doing? Did you come for your schedule Heart?"

"Yes. Also I was wondering what Leon is going to do."

"Leon?" She asked looking only slightly confused although I could feel that she wasn't really. Opal had been right. Mika seemed to know so much but be kind enough to ask about things.

"Yes. My brother decided to change his name too." I replied.

"Lion hearted. It's a very good name for you." Mika smiled at him and he blushed slightly. "Now I believe that Leon should attend most of the same classes as you. It seems that the goddess wants him to be around vampyres so he should learn as much as he can about them." My brother nodded, looking and feeling determined, even though I could feel a small bit of doubt in the back of his mind. I smiled reassuringly at him.

"So here are your class schedules." Mika handed them to us and I looked them over. We had the same schedule except for the last class which Leon had tutoring with Mika and I had equestrian studies. "If there is anything either of you need help with let me know. Now you should all head off to your first class."

We said our thank yous and then headed off towards our first class, which we found out Opal had as well. We walked in and I felt my brother's nervousness and turned back to him.

_It will be okay._ I thought to him, grabbing his hand and smiling. He smiled weakly and let me lead him into the classroom. When we walked in the classroom everyone suddenly stared at us. My brother's nervousness and fear mixed with my own and I took a deep breath to block his emotions and calm myself. I then led him to one of the seats at the back of the class since I know he would be most comfortable there. Everyone's eyes followed us until we sat down, then they all quickly turned away and started whispering to each other. I felt fear, confusion, anger, dislike, and awe. I groaned quietly and rubbed my temples as the feelings surrounded me and threatened to overwhelm me. Leon looked at me questioningly, worry flowing from him.

_Don't worry about it. I just need to learn to block everyone out._ I thought to him.

_The emotion thing, huh? Can you feel mine?_

_Yes. Now would you stop worrying? I'm fine. Just give me a minute to get used to it._

After a few minutes the teacher walked into the classroom and the whole class went quiet again. He smiled, looking over the classroom and stopped briefly at my brother and I before moving on. I was starting to realize that my emotion thing didn't work as well with vampyres. I guess they were better at controlling their emotions and everything.

The teacher introduced himself as Rowan and started the class. He had long red hair that was pulled back into a pony tail and was an average height. He wore jeans and a white t-shirt with a pair of black boots. He was teaching English and started reading a passage from a book. He seemed to be a wonderful actor and a fun personality. I concentrated on his good emotions to block out everyone else's. I hoped that it would be this easy to control it for the rest of my classes too.

The next three classes were actually pretty much the same. Everyone would stare at us and I concentrated on the teacher's emotions the whole class. My brother found everything we were learning about vampyres interesting and was a pretty excited about learning more. But he was also a little afraid of several things. He was scared that I wouldn't make the change like some fledglings didn't. He also was scared that as I went through the change I would abandon him. I sighed as I felt his emotions.

Finally lunch came and we met up with Opal at the entrance to the cafeteria. We got some food and then she led us to a table where three other people were sitting. I tried desperately to ignore the stares and emotions that followed us across the room as we sat down.

"My vulpix would totally kick your bulbasaors ass!" one of the boys at the table was saying to the other.

"No way dude! I can use leech seed and take all your hp!" the other said. The girl sitting beside him sighed and shook her head.

"Wait. Are you guys talking Pokemon?" my brother asked as we sat down across from Opal and the other girl and guy.

"Yeah! Wow. You're that Leon kid, huh? And you must be Heart. I'm Gray." The boy said. He had blondish hair and stunning gray eyes that shone with mischief. He was confident and gave me a friendly smile, holding out his hand. We both shook it and said hello.

"Well hello, my lady. I'm Aidan." The boy sitting next to me said. He had curly brown hair with brown eyes and his skin was slightly tanned. He smiled at me, taking my hand and kissing it lightly. I felt his flirtatious mood and attraction and blushed brightly. I felt my brother's annoyance and protectiveness and sighed.

"Pleased to meet you." I said with a shy smile.

"Um, hello? I'm here too!" the other girl said.

"Oh. I'm sorry. Let me introduce to you the lovely Del." Gray said with a wink at her. She giggled.

"Nice to meet you!" she said. I felt awe and a bit of jealousy coming off of her and wondered who it was directed towards. She kept looking at Gray as he and Aidan continued their discussion on Pokemon and I wondered what was going on between them. I looked back to Opal, about to ask her quietly when I caught something out of the corner of my eye. I looked over and saw a small glimmer of something stretched out between Gray and Del. At first it looked like a strand of a spider's web but the more I looked at it the stronger it became and I noticed it was colored. The part leading away from Del's heart was red and the other half connected to it and leading away from Gray's heart was a light pink.

_It's their relationship line!_ I thought with a small gasp. I had accidently sent the thought to Leon and he looked at me questioningly. I shook my head and told him I would explain later. I looked at him and almost gasped again as I saw another line leading from him to Opal. It was entirely pink.

_Pink must mean attraction then. Maybe red is love or devotion. Or lust. Hm…_ I looked around and saw the line connecting me and Opal. It was a bright sunshiny yellow.

_Friendship._ I thought. I then looked over at Del and saw the line connecting us. Her half was green while mine was gray. I thought about how I felt towards her and realized that it must mean neutrality. I realized then that green meant jealousy and couldn't figure out why she would be jealous of me.

"So how do you like the House of Night, Heart?" Aidan asked, interrupting my thoughts. I looked at him and saw the line between us and blushed. It was the same as my brother's and Opal's.

"It's pretty cool. I like my classes so far and the professors seem great. I'm also really glad Mika let my brother stay."

"From all the rumors I've heard the Goddess is the one who chose to have him stay. Is it true that you were marked as well, only differently than normal?" Gray asked my brother.

"Well I'm still human but my sister did mark me." He said, holding up his hand for them to see.

"Wow." Aidan, Gray and Del all said, eyes going wide. I felt a small bit of jealousy from Del and saw her glance at Gray. I had a feeling that she wished she could mark him as her own.

"And they can hear each other's thoughts!" Opal said cheerfully. "I was there when it happened!" They all looked at us with wide eyes.

_Oh and did we mention you can also feel other's emotions and apparently see relationship lines? And who knows what else the Goddess has gifted you with._ My brother thought and I turned my head to look at him.

_Let's just keep those parts to ourselves. I already feel like a freak._

_You aren't a freak. You're just gifted._

I sighed and then looked back at the others, who had been looking at us intently.

"You were just doing it, weren't you?" Gray asked, awe rolling off of him. I felt a small bit of jealousy come from Aidan now and realized that he was probably jealous of my brother's ability to read my mind.

"Um. Why do you ask?" I asked.

"It looked like you two were having a conversation but you didn't move your mouths. So I figured you were communicating mentally. I wonder how that works. Do you have other abilities?" Gray asked.

"Gray. You are such a geek." Del said, rolling her eyes. "It works because that's how the Goddess chose it to work. Now did anyone watch Heroes last night?"

At that moment the bell rang and it was time for our next class. We found out we had the next class with Del and said our goodbyes to the rest of the group, heading towards the classroom.

_Next Chapter: The Burden of Love_


	4. Chapter 4: Sorry people!

Chapter Four: Message from the Goddess

_She was in a beautiful garden with every type of flower she could think of. The stars were shining bright up above her and she walked along a path looking around at the beauty around her. She saw a bench a little ways away and sitting on it was Nyx. Heart aproached her and the goddess motioned for her to sit next to her. Heart did as she was asked and turned to smile at the goddes._

_"Thank you for letting my brother stay at the House of Night." She said. The goddess smiled kindly._

_"I know how much he means to you, and truthfully you are the one who had enough courage to ask if he could."_

_"Well thank you for everything. I'm still getting used to the powers but thank you for gifting me with them."_

_"You will be needing them soon I'm afraid. There will be trouble in the House of Night soon. And your gifts will not be all you will be needing. You need a mind, body, soul, blood, and heart to help you over come the obsticles in your path. You have one of the five already, you just need to find the others."_

_"What do you mean?" Heart asked, confused._

_"I can't tell you much my child. I cannot interfere with your free will. But look to the connections Heart and you will find your answers." The goddess kissed her forehead and it all went blank._

Heart gasped and sat up quickly. She looked around the room and saw Andrew sitting up as well.

_You okay?_ He asked mentally, his worry radiating off of him.

_Yeah. Just a dream. Sorry._ She thought back as she pulled the blankets off and sat on the side of the bed. _We should probably get up anyways._ She added before standing up.

It had been almost a week since they had arrived at the Redding House of Night and she was starting to get used to everything. She was getting to know Gray, Del, Aidan, and Opal better and had a lot of fun with them. Del wasn't as jealous anymore and Heart and her were becoming friends. As it turned out she was madly in love and attracted to Gray, who unfortunately wasn't as interested. Del had asked him out several times but he had always declined. Heart always wondered why since he was attracted to her but it seemed like he just didn't want the commitment yet. Aidan had continued to flit and woo Heart, much to Leon's annoyance, but of course he had Opal distracting him most of the time.

Heart's mind went back to the dream she had. She had a feeling that it had been more than just a normal dream. She wondered what the goddess had meant though. She had said Heart needed a mind, body, sould, blood, and heart. Did she have all those things by just being alive? But according to the goddess she only had one. Did she mean that figuratively? And apparently something bad was going to happen at the House of Night. Great just what she needed since everything had been perfectly fine. Of course this happiness couldn't be permanat. And what had the goddess meant when she said look to the connections? What connections?

**AN: Hey people, this is the author speaking. Unfortunately I have decided it would be best that if at the moment I put this story on hold. This is as far as I got in the next chapter and I realized that I really don't have much of the story planned out like I usually do. I just started to plan out the story in this chapter but I have a lot of other things going on right now that I think are a bit more important than this. I also want to be able to work on one of the novels I am writing and hoping to publish some day. Who knows? Maybe I'll be as famous as Stephene Meyer or P.C. and Kristen Cast. I doubt it but I can dream, right? Lol. Anyways, sorry to anyone who was really reading and enjoying this story. Maybe when I have more time I will try to get back to it. Love you all!**

**~ Heart 3**


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